31 Oct 2007

On Saturday 17 November 2007 (and every third Saturday of the month), DJ Greg Wilson presents Credit To The Edit at The Market Bar in Nottingham. Special guest Maurice Fulton playing alongside Greg Wilson and Nick Shaw from Basement Boogaloo.

The new Durutti Column album is re-scheduled for release in April 2008 as not to clash with the three other albums due early next year on LTM. In the meantime watch out for an exclusive download of the new track Toast very soon.

2 splendid new Kooky t-shirts will also soon be available direct from the site for 7.50 GBP + 1.00 p&p.

29 Oct 2007

The cover of the new Battles single 'Tonto' would seem to bear more than a passing resemblance to the cover of 'From The Hip' by Section 25 as realised by designer Peter Saville and photographer Trevor Key on a Snowdonia mountainside.

Fotoreportage23 - In Search of Ian Curtis is a new book out on 7 December 2007 by Katka Ruge. A photographic mapping of the places in the story of Joy Division and their singer Ian Curtis and the space he left behind. With contributions from people who knew him, worked with him, or were just inspired by him and the music the band created. Pictures by Katja Ruge and words from, amongst others: Peter Saville, Mark E. Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Phoenix, The Rapture, Karl Bartos, Genesis P. Orridge, Annik Honore, Lindsay Reade, Maximo Park, Terry Mason, Bloc Party, Jose Gonzalez, Nouvelle Vague, Mogwai, Johnny Marr, She Wants Revenge, Anja Huwe (Xmal Deutschland), Karl Hyde / Underworld and the late Tony Wilson.

The book is dedicated to Anthony H. Wilson and Katja, who was once photographic assisntant to Peter Walsh, will be exhibiting the photos at A Factory Night (Once Again) in Brussells, Belgium on 15 December 2007.

The Magnetic Fields are happy to announce that their new album, titled 'Distortion', will be released on Nonesuch Records on January 15, 2008. The band will perform a small number of U.S. tour dates in February and March. Specific details regarding venues and ticket pre-sales will be announced shortly. Sign up for the House of Tomorrow newsletter for the latest updates.

Tony Wilson loved baseball according to Phill Jupitus on Five's coverage of the World Series Baseball on Five last night. Apparently Jupitus, himself a very happy Red Sox fan, bought him a copy of seminal baseball book Moneyball.

26 Oct 2007

A reminder that Monaco will play a one-off set at The Ritz in Manchester this coming Sunday 28th October 2007 for the charity gig 'Oxjam at the Ritz' - the Manchester leg of the country-wide series of fundraising events for UK charity Oxfam.

1. Lavolta LakotaLavolta Lakota release 7" single on Factory Benelux. Produced (studio and live) by Be Music (Peter Hook). Following a brief stint by (ex-Stockholm Monsters) Shan Hira, Mike Simkins becomes the second Lav Lak drummer.

2. Boys From Greece'Mike Simmi' joins goth band BFG. With two albums and various other recordings released on the Attica label, BFG "help define the goth/industrial sound", before splitting in 1991.

3. Rammstein"18 months ago Attica had an email asking if BFG had any new material as were looking for a support on their World tour".

BFG are recording a new album, 'Pulling Wings From Butterflies', and their eighties single 'Higher Than Heaven' is due to appear in the Record Collector "Top Twenty All Time Goth Hits" chart.

22 Oct 2007

The exhibition 'Lawrence Weiner: AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE' will provide a comprehensive examination of Weiner's remarkable and cohesive oeuvre by assembling key selections and bodies of work from the full breadth of his production, including works on paper, films, videos, books, posters, public commissions, multiples and audio works.

Lawrence Weiner: AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE15 November 2007 - 10 February 2008

"Hewan Clarke is the quintessential Manchester DJ. If medals were given out for services to the city's nightlife, based on overall contribution coupled with sheer longevity, he'd be first in line. As the original Hacienda resident, he was a fixture of the club during its difficult formative years – his perspective on this period absolutely vital for anyone wishing to gain a fuller understanding of the clubs evolution. Yet, rather than being regarded as a central figure in Manchester's rise to prominence during the 80's, the decade in which the city became world-renowned for its dance music scene, Hewan has been cast as little more than a bit part player. Maybe this is because his association with The Hacienda has obscured everything else he's done, not least his time at three of the most influential venues of the pre-Rave era – The Gallery, Berlin and The Playpen (not to mention Moss Side's gloriously notorious Reno). The irony being that The Hacienda could never have exploded in the way it did without these three clubs, along with Legend, laying the groundwork. So, whilst Hewan will always be named in the history books in connection with The Hacienda, his greatest contribution was surely his role as a major player on the all-important black underground."

Originally described by the Cornerhouse (and posted by cerysmatic) as "A rare opportunity to catch episodes of groundbreaking television", no actual 'episodes' were shown.

Instead, the 60 minute (advertised as 90 minutes) collection of excerpts - all of which have either been shown elsewhere ad nauseam (Sex Pistols), are still available for viewing (Elvis Costello, The Clash) or were not actually 'So It Goes'/Granada footage at all (Joy Division) - were so crudely edited so that even Tony Wilson's links were cut short, often mid-sentence.

Attendees were far from impressed. Apologies to anybody that attended as a result of our posting.

Peter Hook treated another Manchester audience to an entertaining, candid conversation and question/answer session on Friday night (19th October 2007) - this time In Conversation with Matt Greenhalgh, script/screenplay-writer of the recent Ian Curtis biopic Control, and Manchester-based journalist/author John Robb.

The event, held at the Cornerhouse gallery/cinema complex as part of its Control season, was attended by Matt's former boss at Manchester's (now defunct) listings magazine 'City Life', Andy Spinoza, and Central Station Design-ers Pat and Karen.

As OMIM was, once again, caught short without any method of recording the evening's extensive dialogue, herewith the main recollections:

On the film itself:Matt's original script ran to a lengthy 210 pages - with a great deal more character development - but this was always going to be longer that the two hours requested.Scenes were shot that didn't make it to the final cut.Matt's treatment was deemed very 'northern' by Hooky, with Anton making a more 'international' film. Both Matt and Hooky would have preferred to see the original screenplay.Matt wrote the original script without a Director being on board - which is unusual in film production.Jonathan 'Sexy Beast' Glazer was originally approached to be director, but had other committments.There were originally two production companies simultaneously attempting to shoot the same film, with two independent scripts being produced (a fact which Matt was completely unaware of).Matt's real breakthrough with the script came when Annik Honore sent him copies of thirteen letters written by Ian - some of which pre-dated his suicide by a few days. Most of this was cut from the film.Other scenes that didn't make it into the final version of the film dealt with Deborah Curtis's involvement with mental patients; Ian's fascination with disability and the whole Joy Division nazi thing."Tell me about Macclesfield" was a deliberate attempt at northern humour which has largely been misunderstood.

On Ian Curtis and Joy Division:Ian wrote everything in CAPITAL LETTERS.Joy Division songs were usually arranged by Ian Curtis during rehearsal jam sessions - which New Order found difficult to reconcile post-JD.The members of Joy Division hardly ever spoke about the band and their music amongst themselves - the interviews contained in Tom Atencio's forthcoming Joy Division documentary are the first time any of the band have actually heard each other's views.Like everybody else, it would seem, Hooky was not impressed with the scene in the film that dealt with the recording of 'Isolation'.The use of actors actually playing the band's music in the film set a new standard in rockumentary film making that will be difficult to surpass.Ian Curtis was not a very good footballer (but should have made an excellent goalie!).

On other matters Factory:According to Hooky, Manchester is now known by taxi drivers all over the world for three things (in this order): David Beckham; Manchester United; Twenty-Four Hour Party People.Factory Records was originally Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus and the person who first proposed the idea: John Brierley.

Please submit comments and corrections to the message board, and keep an eye out for the whole evening being posted to a certain video website.

19 Oct 2007

Colin Sharp reviews Control: "This is a film that far exceeds the cultural confines of Factory Records and the prowling pack of devoted Joy Division fans that seem to sometimes jealously guard the legacy and the myth. It is a movie about relationships, confused feelings, unknowable pleasures, domestic pressure, epilepsy, torn loyalties and ripped apart love. It explores the tension between the mundane and the mystical; the banal and the beautiful; poetry and perspiration."

Read the full review here and also in the new edition of True Faith fanzine.

Less than a day left to win a Control movie poster signed "in black marker pen" by Anton Corbijn (Director), Orian Williams (Producer) and Craig Parkinson (er, Tony Wilson) in a Manchester Evening News competition.

The Durutti Column, while stopping short of announcing any new gigs, have at least broken silence. As reported on kookydisc.co.uk and the official MySpace site, a new album is in the offing on Kooky Records in the New Year.

Moreover, LTM is releasing three back catalogue albums and a new (old) live album in January: Circuses and Bread, Lips That Would Kiss, Fidelity and Live in Bruxelles 13.8.1981.

"Tony and Rob, in their fabulous naivety, thought that it would be a couple of coats of paint, stick a bar and a toilet and a stage in it and that would be it. They approached me naively, having never commissioned a nightclub before, and I approached them naively, having never done one before. But that turned out to be a strength rather than a weakness. Then Tony told me it was going to be called The Haçienda, which I hated. I couldn't even bring myself to say it. It sounded like it should be a fake Mexican restaurant on the Costa del Sol."

14 Oct 2007

Bernard says: "We've all been shouting at each other - now we're just arguing about who has custody of the children" on Yahoo News, before going on to reveal "I'm working on some stuff at the moment. Steve is gonna be involved with it, and it's a project called Bad Lieutenant."

Peter says: "If they want to form a New Order 2 then that’s what it should be viewed as" on Gigwise, before going on to reveal that Freebase - his collaboration with Mani and Andy Rourke - have already recorded vocals by Charlatan Tim Burgess, and plan further work with Ian Brown, Pete Wiley, Ian McCulloch, Liam Gallagher and Howard Marks!

Paradise Factory, also known as FAC 251, furthermore known as One Charles Street (but actually, if truth be told, called 112 to 116 Princess Street, Manchester) is set to reopen in January 2008 according to Northern Nights.

The new November issue of Record Collector commemorates the release of Control with a Joy Division cover special featuring extensive new interviews with Hooky, Bernard and Stephen from New Order and director Anton Corbijn. There is also a Joy Division Top Ten Rarities Special.

www.7digital.com offers high quality, DRM-free MP3s and WMA files at reasonable rates from several major labels. Of particular interest to Factory Records fans is the Electronic catalog, featuring:

- The three original studio albums and recent compilation- Expanded versions of all three albums, including b-sides and remixes- All singles and EPs, including the rare 'Until the End of Time' promo release

Looks like most of the tracks were just posted last month.

On a related note, there are plenty of hard-to-find recent tracks from Pet Shop Boys (mainly remixes not released on CD and not widely available digitally) and a decent selection of New Order products (including the three 'Waiting for the Sirens' Call' single releases).

11 Oct 2007

Crispy Ambulance are confirmed to play Sub Space Bar in Manchester (the basement club at Space Bar on New Wakefield Street, just around the corner from The Revolution Bar on Oxford Road, near the BBC).

XFM Manchester broadcast 'Heart & Soul: The Story of Ian Curtis and the Making of Control' on Sunday 7 October 2007, and it's was on XFM Scotland last night (8 October). Bernard, Hooky, and Stephen talked candidly and at times very movingly about Ian Curtis, the band, Ian's death, and their decision to form New Order.

Martin Moscrop (A Certain Ratio) talked about Factory and post-punk. Sam Riley talked about his role in 'Control'.

8 Oct 2007

Jane Withers, in yesterday's New York Times, reports that Peter Saville as been hired by Kvadrat, the innovative Danish textile company, to overhaul the company’s visual identity.

Saville says: "The thing that amazes me about Hallingdal (Kvadrat's most famous fabric which has "a tweedy texture in a kaleidoscope of hues") is that one fabric can evoke so many associations. In orange it can be one thing, in gray quite another. From people smoking pot to the dentist’s waiting room. Not many things cross the sociocultural spectrum like that."

7 Oct 2007

Richard Clayton in The Times reports on the forthcoming highlights of the Frieze Art Fair which takes place in London's Regent's Park from 11-14 October 2007.

Amongst the delicacies on offer is a discussion entitled 'The Expanded Gallery - Mass Forms for Private Consumption' chaired by Alice Rawsthorn examining "how bespoke forms of industrial design, graphics and film have recently moved into the traditional preserves of art." and asking "What cultural value do they bring to the spaces of the gallery and the museum?"

Peter Saville will be on the panel which also includes Marc Newson, "the surfer-dude industrial designer".

The latest issue (#13) of Little White Lies, the "truth and movies" magazines, has a hefty chunk devoted to Control. Articles for your delectation includes:

- The Life of Riley: Look out – Sam the man's a superstar- Europe's Most Wanted: Alexandra Maria Lara keeps on rising- Unknown Pleasures: Joy Division, but not as you know them- Out of Control: When post-punk came to Blackpool- Hooky's Haçienda: The bass monster remembers caner heaven- Still Saville: Peter the great on designing a decade

Peter Saville is amongst the judges for a new competition being run by The British Library which challenges postgraduate students of creative design to design a piece of work which "embraces the spirit of the avant garde, exploring whether its philosophy is relevant to you and the world today".

Sam Riley, who plays Ian Curtis in Control (check out the revamped pages for the movie), is interviewed by Tim Jonze in yesterday's Guardian (The Guide) and they talk about getting killed by the NME, serving drinks to Ricky Wilson out of Kaiser Chiefs and showing how a bunch of thespians could still love Joy Division.

5 Oct 2007

Manchester photographer and filmmaker Peter Walsh is making a documentary on the Haçienda using a lot of his archive pictures from the time. The working title for the project is '88'. He is looking for more archive stuff, pictures and video footage and is keen for you, the Cerysmatic Factory readers, to help out. If you have any of the above and are the copyright holder (this bit is important so that Peter doesn't get sued) he would like to hear from you. There is a small budget for archive so if your stuff gets used there would be payment involved - this would have to be worked out.

Tony Wilson's children Oliver and Isobel have put forward a proposal to Manchester City Council for Whitworth Street West, home to the Haçienda, to be renamed in honour of him, reports the MEN.

The exact name is still to be chosen but options suggested include Tony Wilson Way, Anthony H Wilson Way or Wilson Street West. A selection of names will be put to public vote and the proposed name change would need to be approved by at least two-thirds of the residents of the street.

The red carpet will be rolled out for Manchester's finest tonight as Control has its long-awaited local premiere at über-Art House cinema the Cornerhouse. Director Anton Corbijn and "New Order" are amongst those set to attend.

3 Oct 2007

This Sunday (7 October 2007) from 13:00 BST on XFM Manchester, a one hour special. Available online and with a podcast to follow...

We are honoured that Bernard, Hooky and Stephen have all contributed to this radio documentary at length and in-depth; hear them talk about forming Joy Division, recording and gigging, and revealing exclusively their thoughts about Ian Curtis, his character, his genius, his inner turmoil and his tragic death. Alongside Martin Moscrop from A Certain Ratio, the team behind the film 'Control' are among the other contributors.

It's an intriguing and important story, and the personal testimonies we've recorded from the surviving members of the band are amazing; it'll be a very memorable hour.

More details at from xfmmanchester.co.uk - the station can be found in the Manchester area on 97.7FM, but also available to listen to online worldwide(there's also a 'listen again' facility online which will store the show for seven days from Sunday and access is through the website). Also it'll be available as a podcast via iTunes from Sunday. Check the website for details.

The latest of the increasingly irregular missives from houseoftomorrow.com, the site for all things Stephin Merritt, informs us that Stephin has contributed to not one but two television commercials for Volvo.

The first, 'Wheels' is already on our screens and the second, 'Showroom' will be airing in mid-October, and features a new Merritt song titled 'I'm in a Lonely Way', which is should be available for download soon iTunes - filed under 'Stephin Merritt'.

The stars were out in force last night for the London premiere of Control. Kate Moss, Rosario Dawson, Samantha Morton, Bobby Gillespie and Neil Tennant were among those in the audience, as were Messrs Hook, Morris and Sumner of Joy Division / New Order (though they weren't sitting together of course).

Ian Devine (ex-Ludus with Linder Sterling and one half of the duo Devine & Statton) and Amanda Griffiths (housewife) have a new album out next week on the newly-resurrected Anhrefn Records called 'Wheels To Get To Heaven'. Legendary designer Benoit Hennebert did the cover artwork.

Joy Division are the perennial cult post-punk band. Author/TV broadcaster Paul Morley is the man who knew Joy Division best - he was the only journalist permitted to view Curtis' corpse, was present when Curtis suffered his near fatal epileptic seizure following a London concert in April 1980, and wrote extensively and evocatively of the 'mood, atmosphere and ephemeral terror' that enveloped this unique group and their doomed front man. These are his complete writings on Joy Division, both contemporary and retrospective. As he says, 'The more that time moves on, the more I have to say about them.' In addition to collecting all Morley's classic works about the band from the late 1970s/early 1980s, this unique book includes his eloquent Ian Curtis obituary and his hindsight pieces on the significance of the group, framed by an extensive retrospective essay. Contemporary elements include Morley's critique of the films "24 Hour Party People" - which told the story of the band's record label, "Factory" - and "Control", a new movie recounting the brief life of Ian Curtis, for which the author visited the set during production. Most movingly, Morley includes the original text that grew into his literary work, nothing, which parallels the suicide of Curtis with that of his own father. He also evokes the zeitgeist and the 'psycho-geography' of Manchester, which combined to produce the most uniquely intense rock group ever.

So It Goes90 minutes of "A rare opportunity to catch episodes of groundbreaking television".Saturday 20th October 2007, 15.45.

24 Hour Party PeopleA chance to see that film again on a big screen. "A glorious paean - don’t miss it".Saturday/Sunday 20th/21st October 2007, 15.45/11.55.

Transmission: Pop Music on British TVOmnipresent journo John Robb "chairs a panel of critics, academics and presenters in a discussion of current provision for pop music programmes on British TV", including clips from The White Room, The Word and So It Goes.Monday 22nd October 2007, 18:30, GBP 5.00 (GBP 4.00 concessions).

One Hour Intro: Pop/ArtA talk based around "the influence of pop music on contemporary art, and vice versa" led by Visual Arts Education Officer Chris Clarke..Wednesday 24th October 2007, 17:00, GBP 3.50 (GBP 3.00 concessions).

In the grey days of late 1970s post-punk Manchester, youth culture was a serious affair: every musical performance was measured mostly by the conviction of its delivery. The term 'New Wave' opened up free vistas where acquired skills could once again be exercised after punk's monochrome blur. It could be applied to anything from a James 'Blood' Ulmer record to the latest Throbbing Gristle release, Magazine to Swell Maps. Move outside that terrain into Sun Ra, Parliament, Frank Sinatra and Martin Denny, and your options were suddenly without limit...

Then came Tony Wilson's Factory Club (at the Russell Club in Hulme) offering an open invitation to experiment that was taken up when Ken Hollings, Howard Walmsley, Eddie Sherwood and a few others decided to make some noise to accompany their 16mm silent epic Biting Tongues. A further performance followed a few weeks later, when Colin Seddon and Graham Massey disbanded their Post Natals project and joined up. The film itself, a flashing series of negative images, became a memory; the name remained.